Doctors Without Borders will be setting up mock refugee camps at Griffith Park, October 22-27, and at the Santa Monica Pier, October 31-November 2.

Friday, October 31, 2008
9:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Santa Monica Pier
Parking Lot Below Pier
Santa Monica, CA

Twenty-five field doctors, nurses, and logisticians will act as tour guides, so visitors and press can get a first-hand account about working in a refugee camp.  If anyone would like to arrange a special tour or for questions, contact Lorna Chiu at 310.314.0223 or 310.200.8388 – lornachiu@gmail.com.  Please pass the information along to those you think would be interested.

42 Million People Uprooted by War
 
"A Refugee Camp in the Heart of Los Angeles and Santa Monica"
 
Step into the lives of refugees who have fled their homes.
 
WHO:  Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), an international medical humanitarian organization, asks the public to imagine what it’s like to be among the world’s 42 million refugees or internally displaced persons (IDPs) with the interactive exhibit, "A Refugee Camp in the Heart of the City."
 
WHAT:  Doctors Without Borders aid workers guide visitors through the camp exhibit, explaining the challenges of building shelter, finding food and clean water, and handling waste disposal—all basic elements of survival for refugees and IDPs.  In the nutrition tent, visitors learn about special therapeutic foods that combat malnutrition.  Tours of the health clinic, vaccination tent, and cholera treatment center demonstrate how the organization provides basic health care and responds to epidemics in refugee settings. The exhibit is made up of actual materials used by Doctors Without Borders in its medical humanitarian work in places all over the world, such as Sudan, Colombia, and Iraq.
 
WHERE/WHEN: 
Griffith Park (Crystal Springs Picnic Area) - Wednesday, Oct. 22 - Monday, Oct. 27
Santa Monica Pier (Parking Lot Below Pier) - Friday, Oct. 31 - Sunday, Nov. 2
 
9:00 am to 5:30 pm daily  -  Free, open to the public, and wheelchair accessible
 
For information on the exhibit and related events please call 1-800-490-0773 or visit:
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/RefugeeCamp
 
For a complete press kit including images: http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/RefugeeCampPressKit
 
Media Contact: Lorna Chiu, Media Consultant
310.314.0223 or 310.200.8388 – lornachiu@gmail.com
 
About Doctors Without Borders/Medecins San Frontieres
Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) is an international independent medical humanitarian organization that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural and man-made disasters, and exclusion from health care in more than 60 countries and was the recipient of the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize.

Cost : Free and open to the public

www.doctorswithoutborders.org/RefugeeCamp

Sponsor(s): Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)